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P - News about San Fransisco Gay Community

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P - News about San Fransisco Gay Community

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A Navy vessel will travel the world bearing the name of gay rights icon Harvey Milk, the most prominent gesture given to a member of the LGBT community in military history.

The U.S. Naval Institute News obtained a leaked Congressional memo from July 14, showing that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed plans to name a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler "the USNS Harvey Milk."

The honor comes only five years after President Obama repealed "don't ask, don't tell," a policy making it illegal for openly gays or lesbians to serve in the military.

(AP)

"We have just reached the point recently where LGBT people can serve openly in the military, and what better message can there be of that than this ship?" Milk's nephew, Stuart Milk, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

U.S. military lifts ban on transgender individuals serving

"It's a very fitting tribute to a man whose primary goal was for people to be authentic and not have to wear a mask," he said.

Stuart Milk, who was 17 when his uncle was assassinated in 1978 and later co-founded the Harvey Milk Foundation, said the decision came after a years-long effort by his organization urging the Navy to name a ship after the LGBT activist.

Navy Times reported that California Rep. Bob Filner was also instrumental in pushing Navy officials to name a ship after Milk.

Milk was the son to two Navy vets and served as a diving officer in San Diego in 1951. He went on to become the first openly gay elected official as a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors - the city's legislative body - in 1977. He was killed within a year of getting elected by former Board of Supervisors colleague Dan White.

Department of Defense to allow transgender troops to serve

Those who knew Milk told the Chronicle that the gay rights advocate would have been proud to have his name brandished on a world-traveling vessel, but that Milk took an anti-war stance when he was alive.

"I can tell you I have mixed feelings. It is obviously an indication that gay people are more accepted than they were when he lived. And I think he would be glad of that. But he did not like war," Cleve Jones, who interned for Milk when he was a Supervisor, told the Chronicle.

Navy officials did not comment as the decision has not been officially announced.

(James Palmer/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The "USNS Harvey Milk" will be one of six "fleet replenishment oilers"-vessels that refuel Navy ships out at sea but could be operated by civilians-to be named for civil rights leaders, according to the Congressional memo.

The other ships will be named after Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools; women's rights activist Lucy Stone; abolitionist Sojourner Truth; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Georgia Rep. John Lewis.

The Navy has taken other progressive steps recently. Earlier this year, they did away with gender-specific titles like 'seaman' to be more inclusive of female sailors within their ranks.

(AP)

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Gay rights icon Harvey Milk will have a Navy vessel named for him

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A Navy vessel will travel the world bearing the name of gay rights icon Harvey Milk, the most prominent gesture given to a member of the LGBT community in military history. The U.S. Naval Institute News obtained a leaked Congressional memo from July 14, showing that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed plans to name a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler "the USNS Harvey Milk."

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May 22, 1930. Harvey Bernard Milk is born in Woodmere, New York.

1943-1947. Harvey attends Bay Shore High School. He is a basketball player, a linebacker on the football team, and is popular with everyone because of his quick wit and sense of humor. He knows he is gay, but is in the closet. Living so close to Fire Island and New York City, Harvey finds many opportunities to meet other gay young men.

1947-1951. Harvey attends New York State Teachers College at Albany and earns a degree in Mathematics. No one suspects him of being gay. He is described as a "man's man."

1951-1955. Harvey serves in the Navy and is an expert deep sea diver on the San Diego-based U.S.S. Kittiwake. He is honorably discharged. Loving a good story, Harvey never contradicts the rumor that emerged during his campaign - that he was dishonorably discharged (like so many others) for being gay.

1956. Milk meets Joe Campbell, a beautiful younger man, whom Harvey courts with love letters. They will be together for six years - Harvey's longest relationship. Joe Campbell is later immortalized as the "Sugar Plum Fairy" in Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side."

1957-1961. While Joe stays at home as a typical "housewife," Harvey works as a high school math teacher and basketball coach at Hewlitt High School in New York. When he tires of teaching, he becomes an actuary.

1962. Harvey stops seeing Craig Rodwell, a man he is dating, when he realizes Craig is involved with fighting for gay rights. Harvey prefers to live a peaceful, closeted life.

1963. Harvey begins working in a Wall Street investment firm. His math skills, his quick thinking, and his ability to visualize and predict social trends, enable Harvey's success. He settles into a new short-lived "marriage" with Jack McKinley, a stage manager for Hair.

1970. After nearly a decade of living with the influence of young hippies, Harvey is fired from his job in finance when he refuses to cut his long hair and burns his BankAmericacard. Craig Rodwell hardly recognizes his formerly conservative friend.

1972. Harvey and his new boyfriend, Scott Smith, move to the Castro in San Francisco. The neighborhood has been a gay mecca for less than a decade.

March 1973. Harvey opens Castro Camera with Scott. The store becomes a place that people go for help. Cleve Jones says, Harvey "was just always helping people, fixing problems."

1973. Harvey helps the Teamsters union with their Coors boycott, convincing all Castro bar owners to remove the beer - in exchange for jobs for gay deliverymen.

November 1973. Angry about the way San Francisco is seemingly controlled by real estate moguls and huge corporations, Harvey runs for supervisor for the first time. He is not backed by most of the gay political clubs and organizations that think that Harvey wants too much, too soon. He loses.

1974. Harvey organizes the Castro Village Association of local merchants, and helps launch the first Castro Street Fair.

November 8, 1977. Milk is elected to the Board of Supervisors for District 5 in his fourth run for elected office. He is the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Harvey insists on being sworn in the steps of City Hall surrounded by his supporters (including a new boyfriend, Jack Lira) who march from the Castro for the event.

June 25, 1978. Harvey rides in the Gay Freedom Day Parade, urging bystanders and television viewers to come out to their families, friends, and coworkers. Harvey himself never comes out to his parents.

May 21, 1978. The day before his 48th birthday, Harvey dresses up like a clown as part of a promotional publicity campaign for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. He runs all over town telling people he's an elected official.

March 7, 1978. Harvey serves as Deputy Mayor for a day. Art Agnos (a future mayor of San Francisco) tells Harvey he has the potential to be mayor within ten years.

April 1978. George Moscone signs the San Francisco Gay Civil Rights Ordinance - a bill that Harvey introduced.

November 7, 1978. Proposition 6, which would have authorized the firing of gay teachers and their supporters, is defeated due in part to Harvey's diligent campaign against it.

November 10, 1978. Dan White, Harvey's fellow supervisor, resigns, claiming that he cannot support his family on his salary. He later asks for his job back, but is refused.

November 27, 1978. Dan White assassinates Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone at City Hall. That night, more than 30,000 people peacefully march from the Castro to City Hall and hold a candlelight vigil.

December 2, 1978. Milk's friends scatter his ashes, along with Kool-Ade and bubble bath, into the Pacific Ocean.

May 21, 1979. Dan White is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison. Thousands of furious people converge upon City Hall, throw rocks, break windows, and set police cars on fire. Later that evening, several police cruisers filled with officers wearing riot gear arrive at the Elephant Walk Bar on Castro Street, storm into the bar and beat patrons at random. These incidents become known as the White Night Riots.

1982. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, by Randy Shilts is published.

January 7, 1984. Dan White is released from prison - after serving just five years - and moves back to San Francisco with his family.

March 25, 1985. The Times of Harvey Milk wins the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Director Rob Epstein thanks his partner in his speech.

October 21, 1985. Dan White commits suicide in his garage.

June 14, 1999. Time Magazine names Harvey Milk one of the "Time 100 Heroes and Icons" of the 20th century.

May 22, 2008. On what would have been his 78th birthday, a sculpture of Milk is unveiled in the Ceremonial Rotunda of City Hall - where wedding ceremonies are held.

September 30, 2008. California State Assemblyman Mark Leno's bill to mark Harvey Milk's birthday, May 22, as a state day of special significance, which has been passed by the State Assembly and State Senate, is vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

February 22, 2009. After being nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the film Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant, wins Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn).

2009. The ACLU steps in when a Ramona 6th grader, Natalie Jones, is barred from giving a presentation on Harvey Milk. The principal and district superintendant later apologize and allow Natalie to present her report.

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Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature

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San Francisco Gay Civil Rights Ordinance

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May 22, 1930. Harvey Bernard Milk is born in Woodmere, New York. 1943-1947. Harvey attends Bay Shore High School. He is a basketball player, a linebacker on the football team, and is popular with everyone because of his quick wit and sense of humor. He knows he is gay, but is in the closet.

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" Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post "

11/26/2008

On Monday, we gave you a sort of timeline spanning the period between Harvey Milk's successful 1977 election and the Milk movie that hits some theaters tonight ( with a nationwide rollout Friday, 12/5). Well in the dual interests of giving you added historical insight into this important figure's life and hyping a really terrific feature film, we now want to give you a roundup of some of the news-making events that led up to Harvey's time in office. Whether you take it whole or just skim, please enjoy the Milky goodness:

(In all instances, click the thumbnail for full view)

9/26/75: Harvey is featured in a wire story about Oliver (Bill) Sipple, the gay man who foiled would-be assassin Sara Jane Moore's attempt on President Ford's life:

10/17/75: A Scripps-Howard wire story on Harvey's second, ultimately unsuccessful Supervisor bid. Of interest in this one: The Coors boycott and union support:

10/24/75: Another little blip about his second bid:

3/11/76: They were bound together in both work and in death. But in March of '76, Moscone and Milk were bound together by the latter's right to stay employed while seeking another office:

12/2/76: Criticizing The Advocate is not a new thing on the gay landscape. Harvey was doing it way back in '76:

6/08/77: Miami's infamous anti-gay vote leads Harvey to action:

6/23/77: In this Oakland Tribune snippet, Harvey accurately connects violent hate crimes with anti-gay political actions. Actions like those of his fierce rival, Anita Bryant, who was gaining considerable national ground at the time of this attack:

7/8/77: Following the news that people were getting away with murder because gay folks were scared to out of the closet and testify against the perps, Harvey gave the AP some quotes on the societal pressure that leads to the reluctance:

11/10/77: The day after his successful election to the Board of Supervisors came this celebratory AP story:

12/5/77: A post-election UPI wire story about Harvey's success, and the rise of gay political visibility in general:

**CONTINUE THE JOURNEY: he next 31 years of Milk [G-A-Y]

Your thoughts

Thank you for "turning on" `your loyal visitors to my images and Uncle Don's great web-site. I enjoyed the "MILK" movie, even though there were a few timeline and locations changes... The movie will help introduce Harvey, and that era to the new generations of of gays and straights, not only here in America... but throughout the world. This month, "Wonderland" magazine of London, had a great article about Harvey,before the movie will be released next month overseas (They used a few of my images).
Next month, here in Chicago, I will have an Exhibition Opening on January 25, at the Gerber Hart Library that will feature a few never before published images of Harvey, as well as memorabilia, newspapers and buttons from the 1970's.

I also wanted to say, thanks to your web-site, I have heard from people that I had lost contact with. Thankfully, I did not owe them money and vice versa! Again... Cheers for your great site... for being there now, and the future... and remember to make "EVERYDAY, GAY FREEDOM DAY!"

Posted by: Jerry Pritikin | Dec 18, 2008 7:53:11 PM

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" Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post " On Monday, we gave you a sort of timeline spanning the period between Harvey Milk's successful 1977 election and the Milk movie that hits some theaters tonight ( with a nationwide rollout Friday, 12/5).

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The World Book web site offers an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, homework help, study aids, and curriculum guides. World Book is publisher of the World Book Encyclopedia.

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http://sfpl.org/mobile.xhtml.php?pg=2000225801&sl=1
This is a letter written by Harvey Milk to his one of his loves Joe Campbell. This letter shows that he was a homosexual.

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S- A Documentary Of Mr Milk by a Fifth Grader

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S- A Documentary Of Mr Milk by a Fifth Grader

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An Inquiry-based Knowledge Building Project for ELA Treasures: Take A Stand.

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Harvey Milk, a timeline made with Timetoast's free interactive timeline making software.

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S - The Times Of Harvey Milk- A Documentary

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S - The Times Of Harvey Milk- A Documentary

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This documentary was created in 1984 and contains many clips of Harvey Milk as well a historian narrating about him.

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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Harvey Milk & San Francisco Mayor

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Directed by Rob Epstein. With Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann. A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay councilor.

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This website talks about the many Anti- Gay groups that really hated Harvey Milk and him running for being a leader.

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A week ago, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a commemorative stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, the LGBT rights leader who was the first openly gay man to be elected into California public office.

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This article is from the archive of our partner .

A week ago, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a commemorative stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, the LGBT rights leader who was the first openly gay man to be elected to California public office. Days later, the anti-gay American Family Association encouraged its members to "refuse to accept mail at your home or business if it is postmarked with the Harvey Milk stamp." So The Wire wanted to know: does this mean that the American Family Association will refuse to accept any donations by mail bearing the stamp in question? What about other anti-gay groups?

To test this, The Wire decided to send a series of small donations to a handful of anti-gay groups, in envelopes using the Milk stamp for postage. In addition to the American Family Association, we mailed donation forms to Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council. Originally, we chose the donation amount of $18, or one dollar for each state in the union with marriage equality. But the author was talked down to the more sensible amount of $5.

Basically, this is a win-win situation for The Wire and for the anti-gay organizations: if they accept the donations (made in a trackable format, under the name of this author), each organization will be $5 richer (every donation counts!) and this writer will forever have to live with the fact that she donated to at least one group designated as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. If they refuse the donations, the demonstrate consistency and this writer's bank account will stay a little bit more full. Perfect.

"You're the fifth person to ask for these stamps!" said the friendly (yes, friendly) Postal Service worker who sold a sheet of the stamps to The Wire. Each stamp is emblazoned with the face of Milk, and a small rainbow down the side. They are "Forever" stamps, which means they'll be good to use even after the next inevitable postage increase. Forever, just like this author's possible fate on the publicly-accessible, 2014 990 tax forms of each of these non-profits.

In any case, here are the envelopes:

And the donation on one of the forms:

The AFA's displeasure at the selection of Milk for an honorary stamp runs deep: the organization spoke to Charisma News about why they're so opposed to the honor:

"It's no secret that Milk sought out and preyed upon impressionable minors, specifically young boys, to gratify his sexual fantasies. Regardless of anyone's beliefs about sexual practices between adults, for the state of California to sanction teaching children to honor a man who might very well have preyed upon them is a twisted definition of education by any standard."

Anyway, we will keep you updated on whether any of these organizations accept our donations.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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How Much Do Anti-Gay Groups Really Hate the New Harvey Milk Stamps? A Wire Investigation

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A week ago, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a commemorative stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, the LGBT rights leader who was the first openly gay man to be elected into California public office. For us to continue writing great stories, we need to display ads. Please select the extension that is blocking ads.

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This video contains information on how Harvey Milk took a stand and his activism.

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This is a recording by Harvey Milk. He recorded a tape himself, which was opened after his death.

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http://milkfoundation.org/about/harvey-milk-biography/
This is the official biography of Harvey Milk, it is is from the foundation that was created on behalf of him.

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This source contains many different news articles created by The New York Times. It dates to modern time as well as his time.

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News about Harvey Milk. Commentary and archival information about Harvey Milk from The New York Times.

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This talks about Harvey Milks motives and how he led his first crusade, also known as Dog Poop.

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As a former leader of the youth movement that overthrew Slobodan Miloševic-and now as somebody who shares his passion about non-violent struggle with everyone from street activists in the Middle East to students at Harvard and NYU-there's one thing I've learned: A big part of a movement's success will be determined by the battles it chooses to fight, and a lot of that has to do with how well it understands its opponent. Many centuries ago, Sun Tzu reflected on this idea when he told readers of The Art of War how important it is to always put your strong points against your enemy's weak points. Take Gandhi, who went up against the British army, the most powerful in the world, by attracting 10,000 Indians to march for tax-free salt-a mineral essential for human survival and found in almost every household, no matter how poor.

That's the reason you see so many activists campaigning for better and healthier food: Because no matter what a person's religion, skin color or political belief may be, there isn't a single human being out there who doesn't need to eat. Whether it's food or some other basic necessity, activists who can identify some everyday thing that speaks to as many people as possible will always have an advantage over those who cling to a much narrower platform.

Story Continued Below

Which brings us to Milk. Harvey Milk, that is. Apologies for the pun, but you may have heard about this pioneering politician who was the first openly gay public official in America. If you haven't, he is wonderfully portrayed by Sean Penn in an Academy Award-winning movie called Milk that you may want to check out. Milk's story is about many things: courage, conviction and dedication. But most of all, it's about how important it is to start with the small stuff. And by small, I mean dog poop-level small.

Nothing in the first four decades of Harvey Milk's life suggested that he would one day become an inspiration to anyone seriously interested in human rights and equality. Born on Long Island to a conservative, middle-class Jewish family, he'd known he was gay from a very young age, but took great pains to cover up his true identity. He joined the Navy, fought in Korea and then found work first as an insurance actuary and then as a researcher for a large Wall Street securities firm. This future icon of liberal America even campaigned for the archconservative Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Milk was hardly a revolutionary, and in fact he once broke off with a boyfriend he dearly loved because he felt the young man was too likely to challenge authority and get in trouble with the police. Milk was successful and respectable, with neatly cropped hair and a closetful of fine suits. He was also miserable, living a lie. Eventually he got fed up: In 1969, at the age of 39, he quit his job, got rid of the tie, let his hair grow and moved west to San Francisco.

The city he found was one busy being reborn. By 1969, it had the largest gay population of any major metropolitan area in the United States. Neighborhoods like the Castro, where Milk eventually settled, were shedding their old residents-working-class Irish Catholics-and welcoming in new ones, young men and women who had come to San Francisco seeking tolerance, free love and flower power. Here Milk felt liberated. Having spent a lifetime keeping his sexuality a secret, he was now accepted openly and wanted to help other gay men and women not to be ashamed of themselves.

Milk, who ran a popular camera shop, soon became involved in local politics. His first stop was the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, the most powerful-and only-gay political organization in town. Milk showed up, smiling widely and talking bravely. He was like so many other young, talented and hugely passionate men and women who decide to make a difference. The way to victory, he and his closest friends believed, was to tell the truth, raise good points, offer sensible solutions and count on good people to come out and vote for change.

But it wasn't so simple. Back then, even in San Francisco, homosexuality was still a taboo subject. Today, with the advance of gay marriage and the growing acceptance of homosexuality in American society, it's easy to forget how different the cultural landscape was when Harvey Milk ran for office. In the early 1970s, when Milk was first mobilizing, gay sex was still a felony in many places and a legitimate cause for eviction from rented apartments. As late as 1973, the American Psychiatric Association categorized homosexuality as a mental disorder. Being gay wasn't something that people were comfortable with. So Milk was running a principled platform that confused, turned off and even revolted plenty of ordinary voters.

His campaign was, of course, a disaster. Milk had no money, no staff and no idea how to run an effective campaign. He did manage to get the support of some gay business owners tired of police harassment, and his personal charm helped win over a handful of converts. But when he finally ran for city supervisor in 1973, he came in 10th out of 32 candidates. But Milk persevered. He discovered a talent for rousing speeches and gave them frequently, talking about persecution and the injustices of anti-gay legislation. He wanted to represent his community, and thought the best way to do that was by organizing all the gays together as one political bloc with a few key allies.

Again he failed. While he had managed to go more mainstream, making inroads with labor unions and firemen and meeting with regular people at bus stops and movie theaters, it still wasn't enough. This time, although he came closer to victory with a seventh-place showing, a margin of 4,000 voters still guaranteed that Milk would remain little more than a well-meaning and talented niche activist.

Milk needed to attack from a different angle, and even though hard-core evangelical Christians across the country were using San Francisco's gay community as a stand-in for all that was evil in America, he sought to stand up for his community by focusing on something that all San Franciscans lived in fear of: dog shit.

Matthew Miller's collaborations include Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II (Norton, 2009) and Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Empire (Norton, 2011).

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Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club

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As a former leader of the youth movement that overthrew Slobodan Miloševic-and now as somebody who shares his passion about non-violent struggle with everyone from street activists in the Middle East to students at Harvard and NYU-there's one thing I've learned: A big part of a movement's success will be determined by the battles it chooses to fight, and a lot of that has to do with how well it understands its opponent.

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Harvey Milk wrote President Jimmy Carter asking him to speak out against Proposition 6, which would have banned gay men and lesbians from teaching or otherwise being employed by California school districts.

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Even in 1978, the very year he orchestrated the mass-suicide that ended over 900 lives in Jonestown, cult leader Jim Jones could count on people as influential as politician Harvey Milk - recently the subject of an Academy Award-winning movie - to fight his corner in his absence. With Jones and congregation relocated to Guyana following increased speculation about the church in San Francisco, Milk - an advocate of Peoples Temple and personal correspondent of its founder - wrote the following letter to then-President Jimmy Carter in an effort to defend Jones' reputation in light of comments made by former member Timothy Stoen.

Nine months later, on November 18th, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan and four others were shot dead as they attempted to leave Jonestown following an inspection of the settlement and then, fearing the end was near, Jim Jones instructed his followers to poison themselves and commit 'revolutionary suicide'.

Just days later, as San Francisco began to come to terms with the loss of many former residents, both Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone were shot to death by Dan White.

Transcript follows.

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
CITY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO 94102
SUPERVISOR HARVERY MILK

February 19, 1978

President Jimmy Carter
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Carter:

I am the Supervisor for District Five in the City of San Francisco. The Peoples Temple Christian Church is not located in my District, so I have no political ties or obligations to this church. I am writing to call an urgent concern of theirs to your attention. I am concerned at what I understand is the endorsement of some of our Congressmen for the efforts of Timothy Stoen against Rev. Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. There are some facts I feel you should be informed of:

Rev. Jones is widely known in the minority communities here and elsewhere as a man of the highest character, who has undertaken constructive remedies for social problems which have been amazing in their scope and effectiveness. He is also highly regarded amongst church, labor, and civic leaders of a wide range of political persuasions. Our own Board of Supervisors has presented Rev. Jones with a Certificate of Honor, unanimously passed by all members, praising the church for its many projects "which have been so beneficial to all the citizens of the Bay Area." On the same occasion, he was also presented with a unanimously passed resolution by a Republican State Senator, Milton Marks representing that legislative body.

Timothy and Grace Stoen, the parties that are attempting to damage Rev. Jones' reputation, and seriously disrupt the life of his son, John, have both already been discredited in the news media here. The most widely-read columnist in the area, Herb Caen, printed Mr. Stoen's sworn testimony that John is not his child but rather Rev. Jones. Grace Stone is reported involved in what could be considered a blackmail attempt against another leader in the minority community, Dennis Banks, reported in the two major dailies with her name also given in Mr. Banks' sworn affadavit about the attempt.

It is outrageous that Timothy Stoen could even think of flaunting this situation in front of our Congressmen with apparently bold-faced lies. I have learned in addition, that he has pressured these Congressmen towards unwitting compliance with promoting State Department intervention in the custody case now pending in Guyana.

Not only is the life of a child at stake , who presently has loving protective parents in Rev. and Mrs. Jones, but our official relations with Guyana could stand to be jeopardized, to the potentially great embarassment of our State Department.

Mr. President, the actions of Mr. Stoen need to be brought to a halt. It is offensive to most in the San Francisco community, and all those who know Rev. Jones to see this kind of an outrage taking place.

Respectfully,

(Signed, 'Harvey Milk')

Harvey Milk

cc: Rep. John Burton; Rep. Phillip Burton; Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally

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Even in 1978, the very year he orchestrated the mass-suicide that ended over 900 lives in Jonestown, cult leader Jim Jones could count on people as influential as politician Harvey Milk - recently the subject of an Academy Award-winning movie - to fight his corner in his absence.

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In this interview, Harvey Milk discusses the 1978 Briggs Initiative with Juana on her San Francisco daily, live news & interview show, "News Talk".

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Harvey Milk discusses the 1978 Briggs Initiative with Juana on her San Francisco daily, live news & interview show, "News Talk".

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This video is the original speech given by Mr.Milk.

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This source gives us information all about his life and is a great source to understand who he was.

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Harvey Milk became one of the first openly gay officials in the United States in 1977, when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, he was killed the following year.